Dagoba’s variety packs of bite-sized chocolate morsels, called Gems, also include the same flavors in addition to a 59% Cacao Lavender Blueberry Dark Chocolate.

According to Hershey, all Dagoba’s chocolates use cocoa beans sourced from Rainforest Alliance and are blended with USDA certified organic ingredients. They are also non-GMO and Kosher certified.

Susie Picken Burch, senior brand manager, said Dagoba has a long history of developing “unique and inspired flavor infusions.”​

These new products “embody the creativity that defines the brand and the opportunities that are possible when blending some of the world’s finest cocoa beans with high-quality ingredients,” ​she added.

Empowering women

The Oregon-based chocolate maker was acquired by Hershey 12 years ago, and it has evolved to become the US chocolate giant’s key brand to improve sustainability, especially around empowering women on cocoa farms.

“While women play an integral role in global cocoa production, they are also at greater risk of being undervalued and underrepresented in the cocoa value chain,”​ said Hershey earlier in its corporate social responsibility report​​.

“Dagoba decided to tackle this by investing in women and increasing their economic opportunities as farmers, leaders and entrepreneurs and establishing the One for All Cacao Project in 2016.”​

Hershey added the project spent 2017 working with a farming group in San Juan de Cheni in Peru, where 30% of the farmers are women.

The partnership led to a roadmap to advance local women’s economic levels with activities, including “forming savings group to improve financial literacy, business skills workshops and improving access to financing for local women entrepreneurs who seek to diversify their income to supplement their cocoa harvest earnings.”​

Hershey increased the percentage of its sustainable cocoa beans to 75% in 2017 versus 60% and 50% in 2016 and 2015, respectively.